I keep hearing people on both sides bash the Tea Party and I have to admit I have never actually looked into exactly what the stance of the Tea Party is, so this is what I found. Amazingly it seems that a lot of people on both sides tend to agree with most of these beliefs. It's obvious why status quo politicians are afraid of the Tea Party but I have to question why we hear some on the voter end bashing them. I have listed the beliefs below and put a D, R or B (both) for where I think beliefs fall from an "isle" aspect:

1. Illegal aliens are here illegally. R
2. Pro-domestic employment is indispensable. D
3. A strong military is essential. R
4. Special interests must be eliminated. B
5. Gun ownership is sacred. R
6. Government must be downsized. B
7. The national budget must be balanced. B
8. Deficit spending must end. B
9. Bailout and stimulus plans are illegal. D
10. Reducing personal income taxes is a must. B
11. Reducing business income taxes is mandatory. R
12. Political offices must be available to average citizens. B
13. Intrusive government must be stopped. B
14. English as our core language is required. R
15. Traditional family values are encouraged. R

Reducing the deficit, and debt, requires spending cuts and increased revenue (taxes.) No one, from either party, is willing to do what is necessary. They just point fingers at each other, and throw a temper tantrum like a three year old in a supermarket aisle.

The tea party articulates problems fine. Like most Americans though, they don't have any real solutions.

It's actually happening to a certain degree. Just look at some of the recent posts here in DC. Millitary cuts, Medicare cuts, major cuts to farm subsidies.

This list says the Tea Party favors smaller government, but all polls of people who identify as Tea Partiers say they favor higher military spending and oppose cutting spending on the main entitlement programs Medicare and Social Security. These things represent the vast majority of the federal budget.

So once again we have a case of people who claim to want smaller government in the abstract, but not in reality. The Tea Party is a bumper sticker movement that seems to be more about promoting a specific notion of national identity ("we want our country back") than it is about real policy goals.

__________________
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Lisa: Because they discovered gold over there!
Homer: It's because they're stupid, that's why. That's why everybody does everything.

This list says the Tea Party favors smaller government, but all polls of people who identify as Tea Partiers say they favor higher military spending and oppose cutting spending on the main entitlement programs Medicare and Social Security. These things represent the vast majority of the federal budget.

So once again we have a case of people who claim to want smaller government in the abstract, but not in reality. The Tea Party is a bumper sticker movement that seems to be more about promoting a specific notion of national identity ("we want our country back") than it is about real policy goals.

Or you could interpret all that as: I paid in all these years to MC and SS why should I be denied my contribution.

Never seen polls on them wanting higher military spending tho. I thought they just didn't want any cuts. But at least that is Constitutional spending whether or not we pay for too much which is a different argument.

__________________My Message to President-Elect Donald Trump:America did NOT became great because of what government did. America became great because of what the U.S. Constitution prevented our government from doing. The people made America great.

You're starting to turn my assessment, with all that misogyny and homophobia, you might be Alec Baldwin, rather than Cenk.

You can ignore it all you want, but as I've said, but your pretentious drama queen act isn't limited to a gender. I don't even know what yours is.

Your personality just happens to remind me of a woman complaining of menstrual cramps, that's all. Men have their share of undesirable personality traits as well, it just happens that the female traits are what comes to mind when reading your posts.

You can ignore it all you want, but as I've said, but your pretentious drama queen act isn't limited to a gender. I don't even know what yours is.

Your personality just happens to remind me of a woman complaining of menstrual cramps, that's all. Men have their share of undesirable personality traits as well, it just happens that the female traits are what comes to mind when reading your posts.

This list says the Tea Party favors smaller government, but all polls of people who identify as Tea Partiers say they favor higher military spending and oppose cutting spending on the main entitlement programs Medicare and Social Security. These things represent the vast majority of the federal budget.

So once again we have a case of people who claim to want smaller government in the abstract, but not in reality. The Tea Party is a bumper sticker movement that seems to be more about promoting a specific notion of national identity ("we want our country back") than it is about real policy goals.

Where are these polls? Entitlement spending is a pretty big issue. You think all repubs are for bigger mil. And oppose efforts to curtail entitlement spending ?

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Dave Lane: "I have donated more money to people in my life as an atheist that most churches ever will."

Says the poster who bases his pissy positions on an overly sumptuous bagel spread.

BL, if that's all you remember from my comments on healthcare...I understand your intolerance. Too bad.

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1. Illegal aliens are here illegally. (Revise to: Undocumented immigrants are here, now what?)
2. Pro-domestic employment is indispensable. (Revise to pro-domestic employment violates basic economic reality.)
3. A strong military is essential. (of course)
4. Special interests must be eliminated. (Everyone says this, but no one practices it, see 5 below).
5. Gun ownership is sacred. (Revise to: Gun ownership is protected by the 2nd amendment).
6. Government must be downsized. (I believe government is a whole lot more useful than the Tea Party does. There are many areas that can be cut, but not nearly as many as the Tea Party thinks).
7. The national budget must be balanced. (I haven't seen compelling evidence that this is true, but the current budget has too much deficit spending).
8. Deficit spending must end. (Drastically curtailed, yes. End? I've not seen a sound argument for that).
9. Bailout and stimulus plans are illegal. (Disagree completely -- although bail outs have helped with pro-domestic employment in the case of the US owned auto industry, whoops another contradiction).
10. Reducing personal income taxes is a must. (Disagree completely, because I am serious about deficit reduction. I'm open to tax reform, but I don't think the tax burden on ordinary Americans is crushing and I've spent time in most of the tax brackets during my life).
11. Reducing business income taxes is mandatory. (I've heard some good arguments in favor of this, but those reductions would need to be offset by increased personal taxes).
12. Political offices must be available to average citizens. (Nice in principle, but exactly how do you ensure this? I think the implementation would cause more problems than it would solve.)
13. Intrusive government must be stopped. (I don't think government is all that intrusive. In most cases where it does impose burden, there is good reason for it. Sure inefficiencies could and should be eliminated where possible).
14. English as our core language is required. (Let the market take care of it. Publicly-funded education should be in English to prepare young people for the workplace, but I have no problem with ESL classes in schools)
15. Traditional family values are encouraged. (TFV are different for different people and are constantly evolving. Not a role for government.)

I would bet money that a majority of hard core Tea Party rank and file would not support entitlement cuts that would be necessary to achieve 7, 8, 10, and 11. They are the party of rage, but offer no solutions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by alnorth

The OP is a bit misguided. The tea party does not exist as a unified, coherant, seperate entity. At the beginning it briefly looked like it might be an interesting libertarian movement, but it has since been highjacked by ultra-conservatives who seized the label, re-branded themselves with it, and shouted "tea party" until everyone basically gave up and let them have it.

The government-blasting Tea Party doesn't want any changes to two of the government's biggest programs.

The vast majority of Tea Party supporters - 70% - oppose cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, a new McClatchy-Marist poll found.

The results are somewhat in line with the feelings of registered voters as a whole - 80% oppose proposed cuts to those entitlements.

But it is something of a surprise for Tea Partiers, whose political platform is built on the principles of slashing government spending.

Medicare and Medicaid are among the country's most expensive programs, and their projected growth is largely responsible for expanding deficit projections.

The poll revealed 92% of Democrats, 73% of Republicans and 75% of independents also oppose the cuts.

That's bad news for Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who unveiled a sweeping 2012 federal budget proposal earlier this month that would slash the budget deficit by about $6.2 trillion over the next decade.

Critics of the plan say it will effectively end the national health plans for the elderly and poor.

Under Paul's proposal, the government would give Medicare beneficiaries vouchers for private coverage instead of directly reimbursing hospitals for seniors' care, which it does today.

Medicaid, the government health care program for the poor and disabled, would also have big changes, with the federal government giving states block grants to spend as they wish.

According to the poll, less than half of Tea Party supporters, 45%, said they support increasing taxes on Americans who have an income of more than $250,000 (a move President Obama has floated) - compared with 43% of Republicans, 83% of Democrats and 63% of independents.